Skip NavigationSkip to Content
Return Return to Search Results

Cell division rates decrease with age, providing a potential explanation for the age-dependent deceleration in cancer incidence

  1. Author:
    Tomasetti, Cristian
    Poling, Justin
    Roberts, Nicholas J [ORCID]
    London, Nyall R
    Pittman, Meredith E
    Haffner, Michael C
    Rizzo, Anthony
    Baras, Alex
    Karim,Baktiar
    Kim, Antonio
    Heaphy, Christopher M [ORCID]
    Meeker, Alan K
    Hruban, Ralph H
    Iacobuzio-Donahue, Christine A
    Vogelstein, Bert

  2. Author Address

    Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205; bertvog@gmail.com ctomasetti@jhu.edu., Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205., Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205., Pathology, Williamson Medical Center, Brentwood, TN 37207., Department of Pathology, The Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231., Department of Otolaryngology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205., Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065., Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231., Pathology & Histotechnology Laboratory, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD 21702., Ludwig Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205., Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205., Department of Pathology, Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065., Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205; bertvog@gmail.com ctomasetti@jhu.edu.,
    1. Year: 2019
    2. Date: OCT 8
    3. Epub Date: 2019 09 23
  2. Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    1. 116
    2. 41
    3. Pages: 20482-20488
  4. Type of Article: Article
  5. ISSN: 0027-8424
  1. Abstract:

    A new evaluation of previously published data suggested to us that the accumulation of mutations might slow, rather than increase, as individuals age. To explain this unexpected finding, we hypothesized that normal stem cell division rates might decrease as we age. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated cell division rates in the epithelium of human colonic, duodenal, esophageal, and posterior ethmoid sinonasal tissues. In all 4 tissues, there was a significant decrease in cell division rates with age. In contrast, cell division rates did not decrease in the colon of aged mice, and only small decreases were observed in their small intestine or esophagus. These results have important implications for understanding the relationship between normal stem cells, aging, and cancer. Moreover, they provide a plausible explanation for the enigmatic age-dependent deceleration in cancer incidence in very old humans but not in mice.

    See More

  1. Keywords:

External Sources

  1. View Full Text
  2. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1905722116
  3. PMID: 31548407
  4. View record in Web of Science®
  5. WOS: 000489770700039
  6. PII : 1905722116

Library Notes

  1. Fiscal Year: FY2019-2020
NCI at Frederick

You are leaving a government website.

This external link provides additional information that is consistent with the intended purpose of this site. The government cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal site.

Linking to a non-federal site does not constitute an endorsement by this institution or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the site. You will be subject to the destination site's privacy policy when you follow the link.

ContinueCancel